SAD TALES OF OLD WRESTLERS, CONT'D: Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake setting off a bioterror scare in the Boston subway was bad enough- now it appears Jake "The Snake" Roberts has killed his own snake. The 48-year-old ex-grappler, who always used to carry a snake to the ring and drape it over his defeated opponent, was arrested along with his 59-year-old girlfriend on charges that they "malnourished and neglected [their] Burmese python snake" until the poor reptile died.
Fans of the documentary "Beyond the Mat" may remember Roberts as a lifelong mean drunk and drug abuser who blew as many chances in wrestling as Darryl Strawberry did in baseball. Despite all the dozens of wrestlers who have died early deaths from drugs and other causes, Roberts has managed to keep chugging along, even if he's had to neglect a snake or two along the way.